Roscommon moved out of the bottom two in Division One with a comfortable victory against Monaghan at Dr. Hyde Park.
A superb performance by Enda Smith and Shane Cunnane's early second-half goal were the catalysts for a commanding display by Davy Burke’s side.
It was a sobering afternoon for a depleted Monaghan outfit that named Conor McManus among their substitutes, but they were outgunned by a hungrier home side.
Daire Cregg and Diarmuid Murtagh kicked two early frees for Roscommon after a cagey opening before Micheál McCarville, one of six changes made by manager Vincent Corey to his starting 15 beforehand, opened the visitors’ account.
Cregg and Murtagh tagged on further frees for the Rossies before Monaghan captain Kieran Duffy found the space to leave his side trailing by 0-04 to 0-02.
A free from Jack McCarron was sandwiched between two superb efforts by Enda Smith as Roscommon’s All-Star showed his class.
Conor Carroll made a smart save from Jason Irwin, and Roscommon made the most of that reprieve with points from play by Donie Smith and Daire Cregg — the latter flashing his effort over Darren McDonnell’s crossbar after good work by the impressive Niall Higgins.
A mark from Irwin left four between them after 29 minutes before Ruaidhrí Fallon got his hand to Daire Cregg’s attempt for a point to leave the home side leading by 0-09 to 0-04 at the break.
Three minutes into the second half, Roscommon put the game to bed when James Fitzpatrick’s attempt for a point was caught by Darren McDonnell. But Shane Cunnane challenged the Monaghan goalkeeper and the ball ended up in the net. Referee Brendan Griffin, after consulting with his umpires, allowed the goal, and Roscommon never looked back after that.
Monaghan could only manage three points in the second half — a point from play by Ciarán McNulty sandwiched between frees by Stephen Mooney and McCarron.
Roscommon continued to take the game to their visitors and were rewarded with points from defenders David Murray and Dylan Ruane, alongside other scores from Diarmuid Murtagh (0-02), Daire Cregg (0-02) and the excellent Smith.
All eyes will now turn to next weekend’s action where Roscommon travel to Castlebar to face Connacht rivals Mayo, while Monaghan host Galway.
Roscommon: Conor Carroll; David Murray (0-01), Brian Stack, Niall Higgins; Conor Hussey, Eoin McCormack, Dylan Ruane (0-01); Enda Smith (0-03), Shane Cunnane (1-00); Robbie Dolan, Daire Cregg (0-05, 0-03f), Ruaidhrí Fallon (0-01); Donie Smith (0-01), Diarmuid Murtagh (0-04, 0-03f), James Fitzpatrick.
Subs: Niall Daly for Hussey (h-t), Tadhg O’Rourke for Dolan (44), Cathal Heneghan for Donie Smith (50), Patrick Gavin for Murray (59), Conor Cox for Fitzpatrick (54).
Monaghan: Darren McDonnell; Ryan Wylie, Killian Lavelle, Ryan O’Toole; Karol O’Connell, Kieran Duffy (0-01), Thomas McPhillips; Andrew Woods, Micheál McCarville (0-01); Dessie Ward, Ciarán McNulty (0-01), Michael Hamill; Stephen Mooney (0-01, 0-01f), Jack McCarron (0-02, 0-02f), Jason Irwin (0-01, 0-01 mark).
Subs: Michael Bannigan for Irwin (41), Darren Hughes for McCarville (41), David Garland for Mooney (49), Joel Wilson for O’Connell (59), Kevin Loughran for Ward (67).
Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).
Watch highlights on Allianz League Sunday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 9.30pm, follow a live blog every Sunday afternoon on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live updates on Sunday Sport
